Mihail P. Petkov, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Presentation at Microscopy and Microanalysis Meeting, August, 2004, Savannah, GA

Oxygen radicals (OR) have been used as a surface cleaning method for a diverse range of materials. However, the application of OR cleaning to graphite and carbon nanotubes is not straightforward, as oxygen plasma is known to ash both forms of carbon. This work demonstrates a successful OR cleaning of surface organic contaminants (most likely hydrocarbons from the air), as well as chemical residue from the fabrication process, without inducing microstructural changes visible by SEM. An Evactron Decontaminator was used for the study.

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